Androidround in a nigh-invincible metal behemoth running over obstacles, mowing down buildings, and taking potshots at the enemy. But there’s also a lot of great variety.

Some games are fast-paced tactical battles, while others require that you manage mechanized minutiae. You might be in charge of a battalion, or on your own in a one-against-many battle where your greatest resource is your wits.

1. World of Tanks

This juggernaut of mechanized warfare is the absolute king of tank games. World of Tanks has well over 100 million registered players, and set at least two Guinness world records for the largest number of concurrent players on a single server.

2. Steel Armor: Blaze of War

If you want to know what it’s like to get into the cramped cockpit of a tank, Steel Armor is a great choice. You’ll play two different types of games in the same title. The first is an operational strategy game, where you’ll deploy, supply, and repair units on the battlefield.

The second is an in-the-trenches, visceral simulation of tank warfare. You can move between the gunner’s, driver’s, and command stations to take over different tasks. And from the command station, you can issue orders to the rest of your troops.

There’s no campaign here, and it isn’t a tank MMO like World of Tanks; you create your missions, playing in one of four operational areas. Each battle awards you with experience points that you can use to level up your units.

You’ll need to balance map-based tactical warfare with the demands of controlling a single tank to come out on top.

3. War Thunder

Combine the realism of Steel Armor with the online competitive nature of World of Tanks, and you get War Thunder. This is a free-to-play game that lets you take control of a variety of different vehicles. Including, of course, tanks.

There’s a huge amount of variety in this game: over 1,000 vehicles, 80 maps, massive multiplayer combat missions, PvE, and the ability to customize your play experience. You can even play in VR.

The sheer number of stats available for the vehicles is staggering. Check out this entry on the wiki for the Cromwell V tank [No Longer Available]; it includes turret rotation speeds, ammo rack sizes and locations, reloading rates, horsepower-to-tonnage ratio, and a huge amount of other information.

Each vehicle is unique, and it’ll take you years to fully enjoy them all. There’s a lot of depth hiding here.

4. Armored Warfare

While it might look like a World of Tanks clone, Armored Warfare works a bit differently. It’s a team-based tank game that takes place in modern times, so you’ll use the most up-to-date vehicles in modern settings.

But that’s not all that’s different, as you’ll see in this video:

The co-op gameplay is especially great in PvE mode, where you’ll have to complete difficult missions with the help of your teammates.

One of the biggest draws is the modern environment, where you’ll use high-tech vehicles to wage war in places that—finally—aren’t from World War II or Desert Storm. But once you get into the nuanced gameplay, you’ll see that the combat is engaging and that leveling up takes patience and practice.

5. Panzer Corps

If you’re into tank games, Panzer Corps is one of the best World War II titles around. Instead of controlling a single tank, you’ll take control of an entire legion of them and guide them, through turn-based strategy, to victory.

There are 26 scenarios for you to work your way through, as well as multiplayer that pits your strategy skills against those of online opponents. This is a classic game for a reason.

7. Pocket Tanks

Blitwise calls Pocket Tanks “the light-hearted game of heavy artillery for everyone.” And despite the apparent contradiction in this claim, the sentiment rings true.

The premise of this game is simple; you face off against one opponent on a 2D map, and you’ll need to shoot both the right ammo and at the right angle to defeat your foe. With over 100 types of ammunition, including napalm, dirt mover, fission bomb, lightning strike, and gravity well, you’ll have tons of attacks to experiment with.

It’s a silly game, and doesn’t put you in the driver’s seat of a realistic tank. But if you want to lob crazy projectiles at one of your friends, you can’t go wrong with Pocket Tanks.

8. Tank Hero

Love the idea of driving tiny tanks around your desktop or kitchen table and firing minuscule projectiles at other armor? Tank Hero is the game you’re looking for.

It’s simple, fun, and addictive. Drive your tank around small environments and launch a variety of rounds at other tanks. That’s really all there is to it. There’s also an offline mode—you won’t be able to play the full game, but you won’t get completely blocked like you will with other games, either.

9. Tank Tactics

Most mobile tank games are simple, and just require some timing and ability to aim. Finding strategic tank games you can take with you is a bit more of a challenge.

In Tank Tactics, you’ll fight as the Allies, Germany, or the USSR. Build over 100 types of tanks. Engage in real-time tactical battles. And if you succeed, you’ll rise in the ranks. When you’re ready to take on other players, you can fire up the online multiplayer mode that lets you take part in tournament-style matches.

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MF-tanker

March 2, 2018 at 3:04 pm

Absolutely incorrect about World of Tanks being a "beginner-friendly game"! It is well-known to be VERY difficult for beginners to learn and play well, and causes a lot of grief because of it. If you mean: "easy to jump into and spend money" (it is free to play but massive incentive to pay real money) - then sure, it's beginner-friendly that way. One of the worst things allowed is that the game lets newcomers immediately purchase higher-tier tanks and fight in upper-level battles - instant stomping & frustration all around then.

But it's very complex and easily overwhelming for newcomers, many users try it out but a lot of those folks quit soon after. It's been around a long time, so the user base is high numbers, but a lot of those are inactive in the North American region - the high number active user groups are in Russia (game developer's country), Europe and Asia..